One of Ray Rice’s best attributes as a running back is his ability to pick up yardage both inside and outside.

Whenever Rice runs between the tackles Sunday in the AFC championship game, he will be looking for one opponent in particular—Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork. The Patriots have improved their run defense this season. But as usual it starts with Wilfork, who the Ravens hope to keep from controlling the line of scrimmage.

Vince Wilfork and the Patriots allowed Ray Rice to have a 101-yard rushing day in Week 3. (AP Photo)

“Vince Wilfork is a beast,” Rice told reporters earlier this week. “He handles double-teams. (If) you block him single-handedly, he bull-rushes. The thing that’s great about him is the speed. Some people think that because of his size he isn’t going to be able to move as fast. He moves as quick as any defensive lineman in the league. And that short? Who am I to call him short? That low center of gravity. Vince is not the tallest of guys. He knows that. But he is a force in the middle.

“They get up for games like this because they know we run the football. They are no walk-in-the-park defense. You have to go out there and execute at a high level.”

Rice was the last running back to gain over 100 yards against the Patriots, with 101 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries during the Ravens’ victory in Week 3. Playing into January and getting a heavy workload has not slowed down Rice. He had 30 carries for 131 yards and a touchdown against the Broncos in the Ravens’ divisional playoff win.

Wilfork has watched film of Rice and the Ravens all week and does not downplay the momentum they have built heading into Sunday.

“We’re going to have to be a good football team—a team that beat us earlier this year at their house, a team that’s riled up for us,” Wilfork said. “It’s going to be a dogfight. It’s going to be a physical, mentally tough game.”

Wilfork knows Rice can take it to the end zone on any play. But he likes how the Patriots have defended the run this season, ranking ninth overall.

“We need to be a little better,” Wilfork said. “We can be a pretty good defense, but overall this team, this defense is taking the right steps.”

The next step for the Patriots’ run defense is to control Rice. And for New England, the heart of their interior defense is Wilfork.